Carla Gusovius Atkins
Atkins
Carla Gusovius Atkins, 93, of Anna Maria, died Feb. 3 at her son’s home in Arlington, Virginia.
She was born April 21, 1927, in Königsberg, East Prussia, Germany, to Dr. Paul and Ella Schwarz.
She was an avid English student at the Königin Luise Schule in Königsberg and received her abitur.
She perfected her English by listening to the BBC and other English language broadcasts.
Following the British bombing of Königsberg in 1944, she traveled with her family 750 miles to the safety of a new home in western Germany, where she eventually was employed as a translator and secretary by the U.S. Army in Hessen, Germany, and as manager of an Amerika Haus library.
She emigrated to Detroit in 1955 to take a job as a secretary for an import-export firm.
In 1957, in Philadelphia, she wed Neill Stewart Atkins Jr., of Lillington, North Carolina, a career Army officer whom she had met in Germany.
During their Army years, they lived in Lillington; El Paso, Texas; and Brooklyn, New York.
They settled in Tampa in 1964, where Col. Atkins was employed as a computer systems architect until his retirement.
In 1976, they moved to Anna Maria.
Mrs. Atkins loved her family, traveling domestically and overseas — she flew roundtrip on the Concorde in 1997 — walking and swimming at the beach, collecting seashells and feeding the ever-present blue herons, who never went hungry.
Interment will be in the family plot at Summerville Presbyterian Church in Lillington, North Carolina, at a future date.
She is survived by her two sons, Paul Stewart and wife Sarah of Arlington, Virginia, and Harold Turner and wife Tracey, of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania; grandchildren Stewart, Peter, Henry, Margaret and Marshall; brother Burkhard Gusovius and wife Ute and their son Nico and wife Ilse, all of Wiesmoor, Germany.
Margaret Jenkins
Jenkins
Margaret Jenkins of Anna Maria has died.
Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy said flags would be lowered Feb. 22 in honor of Mrs. Jenkins, who was a longtime volunteer on Anna Maria Island. She moved to the city in 1994.
In 2015, she was named Anna Maria Citizen of the Year and presented with a cane by former-Anna Maria Mayor Fran Barford. She also received a dozen roses and a trophy.
The city honored Mrs. Jenkins then for her contributions and involvement over the years.
For an obituary, please, look to the March 3 edition of The Islander.
Bob Mitchell
Mitchell
Bob Mitchell, fun-loving, longtime resident of Anna Maria, died on Valentine’s Day.
Favored friends and neighbors will now have to tend his paths.
Always observant, Mr. Mitchell was known for his bright wit and upbeat attitude, all while “his mind was spinning” toward his next mischievous move.
A good listener, but also known for selective hearing, he enjoyed socializing and frequented morning coffee spots in Anna Maria, where he was known as “Bagel Bob.”
His charming personality won him friends from all over the world and likewise he was proud to live on Anna Maria Island, a place that enlarged his world experience, yet remained intimate.
For Mr. Mitchell, it was important to stay in touch with those he loved with a phone call or a note card signed with his trademark smiley face.
Over the years, his “touches” piled up.
This was especially true for his children, whom he loved; and when he sent one of them a notecard, he always sent three. He was notorious for contacting these northerners amid snowy forecasts, with his favorite boast about the warm AMI weather: “Well, it’s not easy…”
He was born to Bill and Cecilia in Johnson City, New York.
His mechanical ability must have come from his father, who was a wood-worker for the EJ Shoe Co. and an auto mechanic.
He finished high school as president of his JC Wildcats class of 1953. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Lafayette College in 1957, where he was president of Sigma Nu fraternity during his senior year as a “Leopard.”
He got his love for white skipper hats during service in the U. S. Navy, after which he spent 33 years working as an engineer and manager for the IBM Corp., where he was pleased to collaborate on the battery for IBM’s first laptop computer.
Celebrations of life and storytelling will continue Sundays on the Rod & Reel Pier in Anna Maria for all who knew and loved him.
Mr. Mitchell is survived by his children, Liz Georgia and husband Damon, Meg Kramer and Bill; two nieces; five grandchildren, many friends on AMI and elsewhere, as well as his close friend Nancy Goff.
Thomas D. “Don” Moore
Moore
Thomas D. “Don” Moore, 81, died Feb. 14, with his wife at his side.
Mr. Moore’s association with news-papers began in 1949, at age 9, when he delivered the Tampa Times on Anna Maria Island.
He later pursued a career as a journal-ist and in 1966 went to work at The Anna Maria Islander weekly paper.
In 1973, he bought the paper and became editor and pub-lisher of The Islander.
By the time the New York Times purchased the paper in 1980, Mr. Moore had expanded the Anna Maria Island coverage area to include Longboat Key and had grown the paid-circulation weekly to 9,000.And there’s much more.
For Mr. Moore’s obituary, please, Click Here